It all started when Andreas Svensson met Carl Larsson at a nightclub in Gothenburg. They started to talk about the garagerock era in the sixties. After a long chat they decided to put a band together.

They started to look for a leadguitarist and a drummer. They found talented Mischa Hayman and a not named drummer. It started to sound pretty good, but in the summer of 1996, they met the drummer Markus Wreland, and it all suddenly started to swing.

The Spyders was formed. Unfortunatelly Carl had to leave the band for his other projects Barusta and Honey Is Cool. Luckely for the band another really talented bassist joined the band, Andreas Hartman.

A girl, Alabama, joined the band in tha autumn of 1999. She has with her Hammond given the songs a great groove and it sounds better then ever. She earlier was a member of The Dolls. This summer, 2000, Mischa left the Spyders for a project on his own.

REVIEWS

More magnificent garage from Sweden. Torpedo Records has built a small but impressive stable of talent, and this is my favorite band of the bunch because of their power and flair for the dramatic. Their garage influence pool probably has a 60s end, but they seem to splash around in the 80s end most of the time.

Andreas Svensson’s guitar switches from something close to jangly to a most definite snarl as Markus Wreland slams the crash cymbals to punctuate ever crunching chord. Andreas Hartman injects a shot of 60s with a powerful walking bass line or an ornamental flourish that leads me to believe he’s studied the players of the era carefully before coming to his own conclusion. Clearly, this would be an entirely different band without him.

Finally, there’s Alabama. Not the state, the keyboardist and singer. Her Hammond (which sounds suspiciously like a Farfisa at times) is an important ingredient of the band’s sound, but it’s her fragile vocals, in harmony with Svensson’s, that is the key, the thing by which you can identify The Spyders within a few notes.

At this point I’m just anxious to hear more, but I’ll have to settle for playing this five song EP to death. And you can bet I will.

DJ Johnson
Cosmik Debris Magazine

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Sweden’s Torpedo Records (www.torpedopop.com) has just released The Youngster EP by Gothenburg mod-popsters The Spyders.

There’s a rough n’ ready mix of searing guitar and 60’s Hammond across all five (why just five?!) tracks –
all excellent garage-styled rockers.

Terry Hermon
Bucketful of Brains #58

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The Spyders are a young 60s styled band from Gothenburg, Sweden and the aptly titled Youngsters EP is their second release.

Although their bio states that they are inspired by 60’s garage rock, they have a more ‘mod’ sound, more akin with British bands like The Small Faces, Creation and even The Jam.

The Spyders’ appeal lies not only in their youthful enthusiasm but also in their sense of exploration, as shown by the low-key psychedelic flourishes of (the badly titled) Summer Of Love.

My only criticism is that the band would have benefited from a more assertive guitar sound.

Neal McCabe
Pop On Top

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Every now and then you stumble upon something that you didn’t know exist but when you find you can’t remember how you managed to live without it.

A couple a years ago I found Torpedo. A small record label and magazine in Malmö, Sweden. The realesed power-pop and wrote about 60’s music. The music was in focus and I loved it. The new realese from the label is a true pop record for all of us that feel that its all about melodies.

The Spyders from Gothenburg have been around for a couple of years but know they have found a perfect form for the music. An updated version of classic pop, and thats something I can’t get enough of.

If you love pop, real pop music, get this record. Its limited to 444 copies but the rumor is that new records is on their way.

The Spyders will keep you warm until summer!!!

Fredrik Magnussson
Luna Kafé

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The Spyders are a band who show great promise. A highly energetic powerpop / 60’s outfit from Gothenburg in Sweden.

On this their second EP they take a huge step forward. Much in the fact that they take a step away from their before perhaps a bit too obvious 60’s influenses. On the Youngster EP they showcase a more new wave or mod revival-ish side which suits them perfectly, and the track Modern Girl holds a certain Billy Braggish quality and I can’t help but wondering how it would sound with only electric guitar as backing.

The title track, The Youngsters is another great track on this EP, where The Spyders work up a groove that could be compared to The Chords in their most extreme power chord loving moments.

The lyrics equaly holds the new wave/ mod79 feeling and I can’t resist the (all be it somewhat teen angst) charm in lines like ”we choose the truth from the dead end streets” and ”we don’t care what they say we won’t change anyway” etc.

On the down side though is the fact that The Spyders don’t take it one step further. To be painfully frank there are one or two quite tedious 60’s pastisches here.

But I figure they are the two oldest songs out of the five on this EP and if The Spyders just explore the new wave thing a bit more they can very well be the next big thing on the Swedish mod and indie scene.

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